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National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

Forest Roads

EPA has decided that no additional regulations are needed to address stormwater discharges from forest roads under the Clean Water Act at this time.

State, federal, regional, tribal government, and private sector programs already exist nationwide to address water quality problems caused by discharges from forest roads. Many of these programs have been improved and updated in recent years. Program implementation rates are generally high and have been shown to be effective in protecting water quality when properly implemented. These programs employ a variety of approaches that are tailored to address regional and local differences.

EPA has concluded that efforts to help strengthen existing programs would be more effective in further addressing forest road discharges than superimposing an additional federal regulatory layer over them.